Judge K T Thomas has written a letter to the former Prime Minister's wife and Congress President Sonia Gandhi requesting her to show compassion to the convicts.

26 years after the assassination of Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi; judge K T Thomas, who headed the three-member Supreme Court bench in the matter, has written a letter to the former Prime Minister’s wife and Congress President Sonia Gandhi requesting her to “show magnanimity” and convey her willingness for the remission of sentences of those who have been in jail since 1991 as per The Indian Express.

“Perhaps the Union government would agree if you and Rahulji (if possible Priyankaji also) would write to the President of India conveying your willingness to grant remission to these persons who have already spent the longest period of their life in prison. It appears to me as a matter of human consideration which you alone can help. As the judge who passed the judgment against these persons I now feel that I should address this letter to you so that you can show magnanimity in the situation,” the letter dated on October 18 stated.

Justice (retd) Thomas confirmed that he has sought compassion for the convicts, saying that there are serious flaws in the CBI investigation. This is particularly with the seizure of Rs 40 lakh in cash from the convicts. Referring to the CBI probe in the case, Justice Thomas said he was “agitated” during the trial over “serious flaws” by the Special Investigation Team.

Justice Thomas, giving an example, stressed at the Centre’s decision to set free Gopal Godse, brother of main accused Nathuram Godse, who was charged with conspiracy in the Mahatma Gandhi assassination case after 14 years of imprisonment, in 1964. ”We had such values under Panditji (Jawaharlal Nehru), too, in the release of Gopal Godse after 14 years of life imprisonment in spite of conspiracy charges he faced in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi,” Justice Thomas said.

Justice Thomas ended the letter to Sonia Gandhi saying that he feels that compassion should be shown to the convicts at this age. “I also feel that God Almighty will only be pleased by showing the magnanimity to those prisoners. I may be excused if I have done anything wrong in requesting you as above.”, the letter stated.

Justice Thomas, while speaking to IE, said that it was a tough decision for him to seek Sonia Gandhi’s intervention in this matter. “They are considered as the killers of Rajiv Gandhi. But do not mistake me, I am requesting her to have compassion at this stage,” Justice Thomas said.